Brussels considers disconnecting more banks from the Swift payment system and punishing individuals related to disinformation
. The sixth package of European sanctions on Russia will include an oil embargo. This was confirmed this seas by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in a message broadcast through his social networks. He also detailed that the community block will disconnect more Russian banks from the Swift payment system and will sanction a series of individuals related to disinformation campaigns.
Brussels is working against the clock to polish the latest details and adopt this week a new battery of sanctions on Moscow, which will include the veto on Russian crude, a business that moves around 48,000 million euros a year. The measure, largely motivated by the cutoff of gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland by the Russian giant Gazprom, wants to have a great impact on the Russian economy and cut off the financing of Vladimir Putin’s “war machine”.
The reticence of the Member States to adopt more energy punishments is dissipating little by little. Germany, one of the countries against it due to its great dependence on Russia, has already announced that it has taken the necessary steps to increase its energy independence and that it will support the European Executive’s proposal. In this way, the last hurdle to overcome seems to be Hungary, which has categorically refused further sanctions of this type and has shown itself willing to pay for Russian gas in rubles, contravening European punishments against Moscow.
This Tuesday, in his speech before the European Parliament, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi encouraged progress towards a European Union that adopts decisions through a qualified majority. “The current need for unanimity only blocks negotiations through cross-vetoes by member states,” he stressed.
Similarly, he insisted on the need to reform the European energy market to decouple the price of gas from that of electricity. “Currently the market is distorted and going forward, with the rise of renewables, the pricing system is unsustainable,” he noted.
Energy efficiency
Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, the EU has been trying to increase its energy independence by diversifying suppliers and promoting renewables. However, the Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, warned that “it will not be possible to replace the entire Russian supply” and that Europe will have to increase its energy efficiency and savings.
For the time being, the Member States continue to expand their strategic reserves with an eye toward the month of October, when they must reach 80% of storage. Looking ahead to the coming years, the goal is for the EU countries to face the winter with their reserves at 90% capacity. To achieve this, it will be necessary to promote solidarity between the different States, since not all of them have sufficient storage capacity.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, went to Greece for the inauguration of a new liquefied natural gas –LNG– terminal. This type of energy is one of the alternatives that Europe is considering for Russian supply and the United States has already committed to supplying 15,000 million liters this year. “It is a geopolitical investment as it will increase European energy independence,” Michel said.
The EU also hopes to secure energy supply and achieve competitive prices in the purchase of crude oil and gas through its voluntary joint purchasing platform. In the long term, however, “Europe will be based on green energy”, assured the President of the Council.
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